Eddie
by Gohan Hug
Summary: Brothers have to watch out for one another. 11 years ago, Eddie told this to Shawn. And tonight...Shawn will find that not all Brothers are bonded by blood.


"Eddie"  
  
By GHL  
  
A/N: Hmm...I Haven't written a BMW fic in a while. OK, for starters, This is a semi alternate universe of the episode "Pink Flamingo Kid" (#62). It's the one where Corys' taping a video of Shaun's relatives for him...but mostly it's just a slight plot turn. Shawn's POV.  
  
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"Eddie"  
  
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My Vision swims and I fall to the ground as Bruce's knee impacts with my chin. Cory gasps and tries to run to me, but Danny places a well aimed punch to his gut and he falls on his knees into the dust and weeds. Someone grabs me from behind and digs their albow into my back, and I peer into Eddie's cold black eyes. He gathers my chin in his palm and hold my head in place...Is he going to say something? The next second I'm back on the ground again, and one of my eyes is blinded by the blood flowing over it. I hadn't meant for this to happen! Cory wanted to tape Eddie and his gang stealing the computers so that he could win the News competiton. I came to protect him and try my damned hardest to get him to go back to his part of town. He didn't listen...and they caught us.  
  
When did this happen? When did we become enemies?   
  
I first met him when I was 4 years old and he was 8. He was my half-brother from my father's side, and his mother had taken him in when she had deemed Dad a "despicable father figure". For years he begged Eddie's mom to let him see his son, and finally she let him in June of that year. He walked into our house without knocking, and loudly asked if this was the Hunter's place. Dad laughed jovally and cried "Eddie! My Boy! Great to see ya!", but as he bent down to hug him, was pushed aside. He walked hastily over to me, and grabbed me by the front of my shirt.  
  
"Who are you, munchkin?" His voice sounded harsh for such a small child.  
  
"I...uh...live here?" I answered meekly, and in turn, was thrown to the ground.  
  
Mom and Dad rushed over to me and checked me over, then turned to glare in tandem at Eddie.   
  
"Boy, what happened? Why did you come in here picking a fight?! We invited you over, and instead you barge in, disrespect me, and hurt my son! what's gotten into you?!" Chet's voice was calm, but there was evident distate behind it.  
  
His hands balled up into fists, and he answered as if it was obvious..."BECAUSE YOU LEFT ME!". With that, Eddie walekd out the door, slamming it behind him, leaving three questioning people in his wake.  
  
I'm brought back to reality when Vince screams at Danny, "GET THE OTHER BRAT!". I smile to myself as I see Cory bound over the fence, fleeing to safety. Good. At least one of us will get out of this without being bloodied. There's a burning in my hand, and I manage to move my head enough to see that there's a nail going through my palm, old and rusted, it has to be years old. It must have impaled my hand when I fell. Groaning, I thank God that I can't feel it much...porbably from the adrenaline that's pulsing through my veins right now. I would get up and fight, if I could. But right now...Bruce is at my shoulders and Vince is holding my legs. Eddie's boot is kicking me again and again in different areas of my abdomen, and one kick even found its way to my face.   
  
Blackness comes again...and I'm taken to 3 months after Dad first invited Eddie over. I was sitting in the living room with mom, we were watching TV, when there was a knock at the door. Dad got up from his seat at the kitchen table (He was stressing and trying to figure out which bills he could pay this month) and answered the door. Mom rushed to get up when he heard his suprised yell. And I caught a glimpse of Eddie, drenched in the September rain, cold and shivering on our doorstep. Mom and Dad gave eachother an apprehensive look, but Dad nodded and picked up the boy. He laid Eddie on the couch where we had previosuly been sitting, and Mom, armed with a towel, started to dry him off, and change him into some warmer clothes.   
  
An hour later he woke up, we asked him what happened, but he would always start to tear up and shake his head, mumbling incoherently that he didn't want to say anything. And he stayed on our couch three days before he decided to speak another word to us. It was when i was sitting near where his feet were resting. He hand reached to the remote and clicked off the TV, shrouding the two of us in darkness.  
  
"Do you want to know what happened, Shawn?" He asked me.  
  
I was a very curious 4-year-old...and I love to know people's secrets and be nosy. I nodded, and he must have taken my silence as a yes.  
  
"My Mom's been datin' this guy named Damien...total asshole. Treats us like shit, but she still sticks with him. I think it's because he's got some money, and she was about to lose our trailer to the bank. Anyways...I went to school on monday, and came back here, to the trailer park...but she was gone. My entire house was gone...only the cement blocks were left. I tried to lvie with my Uncle Jim...but he's a rough guy and I don't need anything more than I got from Damien. I slept outside the first few night...some of my old neighbors looked at me wierd...and asked me if I needed a meal or something. Well...I'm tough and I don't need no help from anyone, so I stuck it out for a few days. Then this damn rain started...." He paused to think "And then I realised that I did need help. So I came to the one person who's ever showed that they wanted me around. I don't know what I'm going to do when your parents decide to kick me out..." He broke off his story with a sigh, and I could practically taste the stress and tension in the uncomfortable air.   
  
Suddenly Eddie squeaked as a light came on, and Mom's arms wrapped around him.  
  
"You can stay long as you like...no mother should treat her child like that...it's disgraceful" She said in her motherly tone, and beside her I saw Chet nod.  
  
"You mean...You don't care that I was so mean to you guys last time?" He looked at us all increduously.  
  
"Well...maybe a little. But Dammit...you're my son. I have to take care of my flesh and blood." Dad spoke with an even and firm tone...suprising for the situation,"I brought you into this world, Boy, and I intend to keep you here. I'm not going to let you be alone."   
  
I've never heard my Dad talk to anyone like that except his sons and Daughters...and I get a wierd feeling everytime I do. It's like he intends to keep his promise and he wants to...but in the end....he always ends up breaking them. Even to Eddie.  
  
Bruce's hands are like vices to my shoulders, and I can't move anything except my head and spine. I'm so worn out now...and blackness is tuging on the outskirts of my vision. My body is on fire...My hand is in it's own pool of blood and my face is probably mangled. My Ribs are broken and my flesh is torn and I just want this to be over...please. In a flash, somebody's hands hold a textured pipe that slams itself into Eddie's head, and Vince, Danny, and Bruce run since their leader has fallen. Strong hands hold me and lightly shake me....  
  
Sirens ring in the background. "Shawn...Shawn...." The voice cries. "Wake up! SHAWN!"  
  
But I'm so tired...  
  
That same year for christmas we all ate the Christmas dinner together. It would be our last one because Eddie's Mom had reappeared and wanted her son back, since she had legal rights to him. She had broken up with Damien and promised Eddie that should try to be a better Mother to him.   
  
We opened presents, and were overjoyed to find that we both got the racecars we had been hoping for for months. We spent that whole night just racing them around the house, guiding them with our hands. Mom and Dad would occasionally glance over at us, smile, and then give eachother a loving look. It was almost like he...was my real brother.The next morning, as we saw him walk back to his own trailer, he suddenly stopped. Turning around quickly, he pulled me into his arms in a bear hugs and whispered in my ear "Thankyou for everything, Shawnie. And remember...Brothers have to watch out for one another, okay? So no matter what happens...I'll be there for you." Then he stepped out the door and left...just like that. I didn't see him again until tonight.   
  
I'm concious again, but my eyes haven't opened just yet. I hear voices all around me. The smell stings my nose and the lights blind me enough to know that I'm in a hospital. My head is on the right side...staring out the window that has a great view of the city. Machines are beeping all around me. Groaning, I turn my head to the left, and see Cory, Topanga, John, Amy, and Alan all in the chairs in my room. John's hands are under his head, but I can see enough of his palm to spot the peculiar scabs on his hands. So it was he who got Eddie. And Cory didn't run away....he ran to get help.   
  
It's then that I have a revalation. Despite all of the great and wonderful promises my family has given me, such as "Brothers have to watch out for one another", They mean nothing. They're just hollow words that tie you down.  
  
Then again, Maybe the last promise is true, afterall?   
  
And what if you don't need to be brothers by blood for it to count?  
  
My eyes find their way to Cory and I smile...  
  
The Deepest promises are left unspoken. 


End file.
